


Nate's No Good, Unacceptable Prom Night

by pandapresident



Category: XOXO Droplets (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Prom Night, featuring cameos from some terrible people
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-14
Updated: 2018-07-14
Packaged: 2019-06-10 10:30:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15289572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pandapresident/pseuds/pandapresident
Summary: Nate knew this night was coming. That didn't mean he had to like it.Written for Florisam's Nate Birthday event.





	Nate's No Good, Unacceptable Prom Night

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Florisam's Nate Birthday event. My prompt was (surprise, surprise) prom. Happy birthday, Nate!

Prom was approaching and the forecast was high hormones with scattered inappropriate behaviour. Dark corridors, unlocked closets and bathrooms were all going to be no-go zones for the duration of the night. Nate, who had had to rearrange his usual schedule in order to fit this aberration into his routine, was resigned to getting through the night with as much grace as the event warranted and not a jot more. He considered his formal suit and wondered if he could just turn up in a hoodie. No, that would be silly. He’d layer it under the suit jacket.

“Hey, we match,” Everett said, once Nate had changed. Nate looked over and failed to see any similarities. “I’m hot in red and you’re going to be red hot.”

“Very funny,” Nate said, turning back to the mirror to adjust his tie. “You meeting up with your friends soon?”

“In another hour,” Everett said, his attention back to his phone.

“Prom starts in fifteen minutes.”

“Uh, yeah,” Everett scoffed. “I’m not going to be on time for prom.”

Nate stared at him, his mouth set hard with anger. Everett’s eyes flicked up from his phone. Catching sight of his best friend’s expression, he sighed and sat up.

“Whatever,” he said, rolling his shoulders back. “I guess I’m ready.”

They made their way across campus to the hall, both of them dwelling on the significance prom held for their timelines. There was before prom, when everything would fit into a neat routine that they barely remembered not following, and then after prom, where everything would start disintegrating and culminated with their graduation. They’d be losing their routines, their surroundings, even their home. Neither of them had spent enough time with their families to call the houses they inhabited home; Saint Sara Belle was the closest thing to home that either of them had ever known.

Soon, Nate realised, he’d never again come home to a room with anything out of place. The thought paralysed him, making him stop abruptly in the middle of the path.

“What’s up?” Everett asked. He didn’t bother to ask if Nate had forgotten something; Nate never forgot anything.

“It’s nothing,” Nate said, striding forward with a purpose he didn’t feel. He didn’t want to talk about it, not now or ever, and definitely not with Everett. He might be able to handle the conversation, he told himself, but Everett was panicking about the end of school. It wouldn’t be fair to make him cry right before prom.

“Uh, sure,” Everett said, jogging to catch up.

The hall was scarcely populated when they arrived, five minutes before the event was scheduled to start. Nate crossed his arms over his chest, growling.

“This is still a school event,” he said to Everett. “Don’t these people know how important punctuality is?”

“Clearly not,” Bae said, appearing by his shoulder like a demon in a cartoon. “But it’s probably too late to teach them, what with school finishing so soon.”

“They should have learned years ago!” Nate yelled. Trust Bae to swoop in just to bite at his sore spot. “If they don’t know that then they shouldn’t be graduating!”

“And let you graduate all by your lonesome?” Bae asked, his lips curling into a smile. “My, you must be worried about not making valedictorian.”

Nate’s eyes widened. His feet started to escort him out of the room, but Everett grabbed the hood of his jacket and held him in place.

“Hey, Antichrist, why don’t you fuck off back to the underworld?” Everett asked. “There’s plenty of souls there you can torment with your presence.”

“Cute,” Bae said, smirking, but he mercifully disappeared.

Everett released Nate’s jacket and made a gesture behind Bae’s back that Nate pretended not to see.

“Fucking asshole,” Everett said, still scowling. “Punch sounds good right now. Also, I’d like a drink.”

“Everett,” Nate said, warningly.

“Mercy,” Everett said, rolling his eyes. “You know I don’t mean it. But I’ll be back in a minute.”

Nate watched Everett go, panic rising in him as the further away his friend went. Everett ladled a neon drink into a cup from the bowl on the table. Nothing natural was that shade of vivid red, no matter how many chunks of tinned fruit floated in it. Nate continued stand, eyes still fixed on Everett as the room began to gradually fill. Someone clapped Everett on the back and began engaging him in conversation. Nate really wished they hadn’t; his head was abuzz with worries that he needed distracting from.

His tension must have been clear from across the room, as Nurse Lynn wandered over from the wall where he’d been monitoring the dance.

“Nate, are you all right?” Lynn asked, his voice gentle. Like he was an invalid! Nate thought, disregarding that it was also the supervisor’s usual way of speaking.

“I’m fine!” Nate said, though the urge to flee was increasing with every passing moment.

“Of course,” Lynn said, soothingly. “But maybe you’d feel better if you had a drink-“

“I’m not putting any of that junk into my body.”

“I see,” Lynn said. “I think we have some bottles of water-“

“No!”

“I see,” Lynn said, pursing his lips. There was a shout from elsewhere in the room, followed by a slap.

“Aren’t you going to investigate?” Nate asked.

“I suppose,” Lynn said, shooting him one last sympathetic look. “But I’ll be around if you need me.”

Nate very much doubted that. The only person he could even think of calling on if he needed someone was – was somewhere that wasn’t by the punch bowl, he realised. His heart sunk. He’d lost Everett.

He frantically scanned the crowd, finally spotting Everett in a corner with his friends. Nate set his jaw. That was fine. Everett had friends and he was spending time with them. As he should.

“Uh, are you all right?”

Nate turned the full-force of his stare – which wasn’t angry, he told himself, but righteously disappointed with the waste of resources that this event entailed – down on Jeremy. Jeremy looked back at him under eyelids heavy from long stretches without sleep.

“I’m fine!” he shouted.

“If you say so,” Jeremy said, failing to stifle a yawn.

“Why are you even here?” Nate asked.

“I really don’t know.”

“Hey, it’s the two kings!” JB chirped, swooping down on them.

“Please don’t call me that,” Jeremy said, scrunching his nose with disgust.

“You want me to come up with a new name for you?” JB said, brightening – if such a thing were possible, given her inappropriately cheery entrance.

“Ick, no,” Jeremy said.

“Nate, do you have any objections to being called by your title?”

“Plenty,” Nate said. “It’s meaningless. What’s the point of a title that you haven’t earned?”

“Maybe you should ask literally any monarch ever,” Jeremy said.

“Maybe I should!”

“Haha, wow,” JB laughed. “I can’t believe you two are plotting to overthrow the monarchy at prom.”

“I’m not plotting anything,” Jeremy said.

“Nate, you ready to go on your one-man crusade by yourself?”

One-man. Yourself. The words hit him hard, reminding him of his inevitable future. His lip wobbled.

“I have to be somewhere that’s not here,” Jeremy said.

“Jeremy!” JB scolded, then shrugged as he disappeared. “I suppose that’s for the best. What’s up, man?”

“Nothing!” Nate shouted.

“Yeah, totally seems that way,” JB said. “It’s okay; I’m sure Everett will join you if you really want to bring down the institution of royalty.”

“You think so?” Nate said, blinking back tears.

“Trust me,” JB said. “He’d complain, because that’s what he does, but he’d give in. And not in a worthless, indiscriminate way like Jeremy does, but in a special only-for-Nate way.”

“You’re right,” Nate said.

“I always am,” JB said, grinning. “But if you do need a third member for your little regicide plot, I’ll drag Jeremy back over here and we can wear him down.”

“You’re not volunteering yourself?”

“Nah, marrying into royalty would be a pretty sweet gig. I’ve got to leave that option open.”

“What does your boyfriend think to your aspirations to royalty?”

“He’s welcome to become a prince.”

“That’s not how that works!” Nate said. JB just laughed and waved as she vanished into the crowd. “Come back here and learn the fundamentals of monarchy!”

“Uh, what?” Everett said, one shaved eyebrow raised. “Jesus, Nate, it’s prom. You can’t educate people tonight. And did I see clown boy talking to you?”

“Yeah,” Nate said. “No idea what he’s doing here.”

“I don’t know what we’re doing here,” Everett muttered. “I’ve been to kiddie parties that went harder than this.”

The music stopped, along with the many-coloured flashing disco lights. Up on the stage, someone cleared their throat.

“And now, for the moment you’ve all been waiting for…”

“Are they aiming to hit every prom cliché?” Everett muttered beside him. “It’s fucking prom, not the Oscars.”

As everyone expected, Nate was announced as king. More surprising was the news that, somehow, JB had edged Missy out on being prom queen, in spite of the latter’s entire academic career being devoted to that one goal.

“Rub it in his face,” Everett hissed, clapping Nate on the back.

Nate had no such plans to make the occasion any more awkward than it already was. He intercepted JB’s attempted to give a speech, then gave a curt apology to JB’s boyfriend (whether he actually cared or not was a mystery) and took her to the dancefloor. In three minutes and twenty-two seconds (Nate had demanded to know what the song was and how long it would last months ago), it was over. There was another round of applause and Nate was done.

“Told you I’d be queen,” JB said to Shiloh, who had yet to stop clapping for them.

“Oh, I knew,” Shiloh said, smiling innocently. “As your number one supporter, I had to know.”

“What did you do, you little goblin?” Nate asked. “Bribes? A smear campaign against Missy? Voter fraud?”

“Gosh, you’re so mean,” Shiloh said, contorting his face into a look of dismay. “Don’t you have any faith in JB?”

“Yeah, Nate, way to rain on my totally legitimate coronation parade.”

“You’re not getting a parade.”

“Mean and miserable,” Shiloh said, shaking his head. “JB, you can’t possibly marry him.”

“Oh, I dunno,” JB said, grinning. “Hey Nate, did I win you over with my amazing dance moves?”

“No,” Nate said, scanning the crowd for Everett. He was in the far corner, standing with his friends but head down as he typed away on his phone. “Well, see you.”

He weaved his way through the crowd, ignoring people’s worthless congratulations, until he reached Everett. Everett snapped his phone closed as he approached.

“Royal duties done?” Everett asked. “Let’s bail.”

Nate had no complaints – at least, not with the prospect of leaving. He had many complaints about student conduct, the choice of music, the refreshments and most of the company, so leaving sounded perfect. A few more people attempted to give him their congratulations, which necessitated a brief education on why they were wrong to do so as Everett tapped his foot impatiently, and then they were free.

Stepping out into the brightly lit main corridor was a shock to the senses. Nate rubbed his ear, which was ringing from the loud music. He’d not noticed it until he was away from the source of the sound. It was quiet, as most of the students were still busy enjoying themselves at the dance. So quiet, in fact, that a man’s grunt was rang out clearly from the other end of the corridor.

“I don’t even want to know what that noise was,” Nate said, deliberately turning to look into the other direction.

“But you love stamping down on inappropriate behaviour,” said Everett.

“Not tonight! Tonight, I might see things I’d be better off never seeing.”

“Yeah, well, I’m going to look.”

Everett darted down the corridor like an adventurer chasing the unknown. Nate wished he’d brought earplugs. He might be able to avert his eyes, but he had no defence against noise.

“What the fuck?” Everett yelled. “You can’t be up there!”

Nate’s imagination ran away from him, envisaging contortionist deviant acts. He covered his eyes, even though the objectionable material was all in his head.

“You can’t stop me,” came Pran’s voice in response.

“Oh, yeah?” Everett called back. “Nate, get over here!”

“I don’t want to see,” Nate said.

“Ueh, it’s nothing like that,” Everett said. “Just get over here.”

Nate gingerly stepped one foot down the corridor, then another. Everett was waiting for him at the end, tapping his foot impatiently. Pran was nowhere in sight. Everett jerked his head up, towards the series of windows that ran above the entranceway. Puzzled, Nate followed Everett’s lead. Nested precariously on a beam, his back resting on one of the windows, was Pran.

“Get down from there!” Nate yelled. His head was abuzz with all the outcomes of this absurd act: Pran breaking the window, Pran falling, and worst: him and Everett getting hurt or implicated in the process.

“How did he even get up there?” Everett asked, looking around.

“I jumped from the trophy case.”

On closer inspection, a scuffmark on the top of the trophy cabinet supported this claim. It only enraged Nate further.

“You can’t do that!” he shouted, balling his hands into fists. “Those aren’t your trophies!”

“Does that mean you could, since you were responsible for winning half of them-“

“No, Everett, because I have proper respect for school property. As should you!” he finished, glowering up at Pran. “Now get down from there!”

“You can’t make me come down.”

“Oh, can’t I?” Nate rounded on Everett. “Everett, call the cops.”

“You really think the cops are gonna come out for some kiddie misbehaviour on prom night?”

“Call them!”

Sighing, Everett took his phone out and jabbed at the buttons. Pran leapt off the beam onto the trophy cabinet, which quaked under his weight. Nate darted to the end of it, trying to catch him, but Pran jumped and soared over him. The tile cracked underneath him as he landed. Nate attempted to make a chase, but Everett grabbed him.

“Let it go,” he said, scowling at Pran’s receding figure.

“I can’t let it go,” Nate said, wrenching himself free. “What if he hurts himself?”

“Then maybe it’ll teach him a lesson and he’ll be a better person for it. Why do you care?”

“No one is obeying the rules any more,” Nate said, looking crestfallen. “Prom night hasn’t even ended and it’s all descended into anarchy.”

“Pran never obeyed the rules to begin with,” Everett pointed out.

It didn’t help. Nate buried his head in his hands and let out choking sobs. Everett wrapped an arm around his shoulder.

“Hey, man, it’s going to be all right,” he said.

“How?” Nate said, lifting his head to reveal streams of tears running down his cheeks. “Everything’s a mess. I’m a mess.”

“If you’re a mess, then everyone else is a fucking dump,” Everett said. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

Nate let Everett lead him back to their room, his eyes still flowing like Niagara Falls. Everett set him down on the bed, then started to move away. Nate seized his arm with both hands.

“Don’t leave me,” he begged.

“Christ, Nate, I was going to get you a blanket, or make you a cup of tea, or-“ Everett rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. “Something.”

“I don’t want it,” Nate sniffed. “Stay here.”

Everett sunk onto the bed next to him. “Okay. All right. I’m here.”

“For now.”

Everett’s eyes narrowed. “We’re not talking about the g-word.”

“Because you’re going to disappear-“

“Please,” Everett scoffed. “You’re going to be some hotshot lawyer in your forties and you’re still going to have your lame school friend crashing on your couch.”

“I’ll have a guest room.”

“Great, then I guess I’ll just move in and be your rent-free roommate.”

“You mean it?”

“Obviously.”

“You’re going to have to learn to be tidier, then,” Nate said, straightening up.

“I’m tidy!” Everett said, gesturing around the room. “Do you see a single hair out of place?”

“If I saw a hair other than on our heads it would be out of place!”

“It’s just a saying. It means this place is fucking flawless because I’m hot shit at being tidy.”

“Your drawer is ajar and there’s a charger sticking out of it,” Nate said, immediately. “I’m serious. A dorm room is one thing, but maintaining a house will be much more work.”

“Can we stop talking about this?” Everett asked. “Now that I’ve reaffirmed the obvious. Let’s just pretend this is a normal night and put on one of your films.”

“If it was a normal night then we’d be going to sleep before the movie finishes.”

“Fine!” Everett said, throwing his hands in the air. “It’s a semi-normal night but it’s been fucking awful and I need something to take my mind off – off – everything!”

Nate got up and navigated through a list of films on his laptop. “What do you want to watch?”

“I don’t care. It could be Mickey Mouse Karate-Chops His Fucking Dog, just put something on.”

“That had better not be an actual thing that exists.”

“I bet it is,” Everett said. “Hey, let’s check on Youtube. There are tons of fake cartoons.”

“Why?”

“Why does it exist or why would I want to see it?”

“Both, but mostly the former.”

“I dunno, to scar kids for life or some shit.”

“That would never work,” Nate said. “The child’s parent would see that it wasn’t real, authorised content and navigate away.”

“Some parents just hand their kids a phone and let them run wild. Then their kids see something awful and little Timmy keeps mom and dad up all night for the next month because he’s got nightmares.”

“Then they deserve everything they get!”

“Wow,” Everett said, rolling his eyes. “The kids or the parents?”

“The parents, obviously,” said Nate. “The child is just an unfortunate victim of their parents’ neglect. You can’t just let a child use the internet unsupervised!”

“Oh no, there goes my weekend plans,” Everett said. “Just stick a film on.”

Still chuntering about negligent parents, who should absolutely know what their children were up to for every second of the day, Nate picked a film. He sat down on the bed next to Everett, continuing to complain how tablets, especially those aimed at kids, were of the devil and clearly, purchasing one was equivalent to signing a contract with Satan himself. The stress of the evening ebbed away as prom drained from his mind. He was watching a film with his best friend, and he was happy.


End file.
